Historical and biographical record of Los Angeles and vicinity : containing a history of the city from its earliest settlement as a Spanish pueblo to the closing year of the nineteenth century ; also containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present, Part 66

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 996

USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > Historical and biographical record of Los Angeles and vicinity : containing a history of the city from its earliest settlement as a Spanish pueblo to the closing year of the nineteenth century ; also containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present > Part 66

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Mrs. Mary E. Lindley, mother of the doctor, was born October 8, 1829, and though she has passed the seventieth anniversary of her birth she enjoys good health and is in the possession of all of her faculties. Her ancestors were natives of Holland and were numbered among the early inhabitants of Manhattan Island, and some of her immediate family were residents of Kentucky and Virginia. Three of her father's uncles were soldiers in the Revolution. John and Abraham Banta were under command of Col. Robert McPherson, and Capt. Hugh Camp- bell, in the second battalion of York county, Pa., and Samuel Banta entered the service in December, 1776, under command of Cap- tain Van Arsdale, and served in the York county (Pa.) troops under the command of Gen- eral Putnamı. The two brothers of Mrs. Lind- ley's father, Jacob and Andrew Banta, were heroes of the war of 1812, both serving in the command of Captain Rice, in the Kentucky Mounted Volunteer army under Col. R. M. John- son (afterward vice-president of the United States). They both participated in the battle of the Thames, Canada, October 5, 1813, when the American forces, under Major-General William Henry Harrison, defeated the British. The four brothers of Mrs. Lindley, Quincy, Jepthah, Samuel and William Banta, all were soldiers in the Civil war and each one of the number were officers who won distinction. The youngest, William, who enlisted at President Lincoln's first call, was promoted from the ranks, step by step, until towards the close he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel.

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Dr. Walter Lindley was born in Monrovia, Ind., January 13, 1852, and his literary education was chiefly acquired in the Minneapolis high school. In 1871 he commenced the study of medicine and graduated from Keene's School of Anatomy, in Philadelphia, in 1872, after which he attended two courses of lectures at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y., and was grad- uated there in 1875. Prior to this event, in 1874, he was appointed ambulance surgeon by the Brooklyn board of health, and also served as res- ident physician in the Eastern District Hospital of Brooklyn until the day of his graduation. These duties, in addition to his regular medical study and preparation, kept his time fully occu- pied, as may be judged, and few young men would have undertaken such a weight of responsibility at the time.

In 1875 Dr. Lindley came to Los Angeles and embarked upon his successful career as a physician and surgeon. During 1879 and 1880 he was city health officer. In 1882, and again in 1887, he went to New York City and pursued special courses in the Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital. Surgery has been his chief study for several years, and he devotes a great deal of time to research and reading, keeping himself thoroughly posted in all modern methods and discoveries. He is a devoted member of the California State Medical Society, of which he was president in 1890, and is a charter member of the Southern California Medical Society. For several years he was the secretary, and in 1882 was the president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association.

Twenty years ago Dr. Lindley became presi- dent of the Los Angeles Orphans' Home, which he was very influential in founding, and he still acts as one of the trustees of that institution. He also aided materially in the organization of the Los Angeles Humane Society, and served as its president in 1895. Actively concerned in the founding of the College of Medicine in the Uni- versity of Southern California, he served from 1885 onward, for several years, as secretary of the faculty, for six years was professor of obstet- rics, and at present and for years past has held the chair of gynecology in the same institution. In 1897 the doctor and twenty of the leading physicians and surgeons of Los Angeles organized

the California Hospital Association, and immedi- ately erected the handsome and well-equipped California Hospital. This beautiful building, the embodiment of practical modern ideas in regard to the care of the sick, contains one hundred rooms and is centrally located at No. 1414 South Hope street. The hospital was opened June 11, 1898, and has proved to be a thoroughly beneficent and successful enterprise. In 1886-87 Dr. Lind- ley was superintendent of the Los Angeles Coun- ty Hospital, and was an able, efficient officer.

The education and training of the young is a subject which has had the earnest and sympa- thetic interest of Dr. Lindley, and in 1880 and 1881 he served as a member of the Los Angeles board of education. His extended experience here led him to the conclusion that more adequate provision for the care and education of boys was a matter of vital importance, and, after agitating the question for ten years or more, he succeeded in getting the California legislature to make a liberal appropriation for the establishment and maintenance of a school where trades should be taught and where boys should receive a sym- metrical education morally, mentally and physi- cally. Dr. Lindley was appointed to supervise the building of the Whittier state school, at Whittier, Cal., and resided there as superinten- dent from 1890 to 1894, in the meantime practi- cally demonstrating the wisdom of his ideas, giv- ing the Whittier school a standing unequalled among juvenile reformatories, and vindicating the theories which he had long advocated. Though he always has been an active Republican, he was appointed by the Democratic governor of California as one of the trustees of the Whittier state school, and at present he is president of the board. For several years he was vice-president of the National Conference of Charities and Cor- rections and still retains an active membership in the same. When the International Prison Con- gress was held in Paris, in 1895, President Cleve- land appointed the doctor as the Pacific coast member of the United States commission to that convention. As indicated, the honors which he has received at the hands of political heads of the opposition party are eloquent testimonials to his sterling worth and recognized ability. In 1877 he assisted in the organization of the Young Men's Republican Club, the first club of the kind

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ever formed in Southern California, and of this he was chosen president.

Though he has devoted the major part of his time and attention to his profession, Dr. Lindley has won considerable fame as an author and a contributor to various journals of merit. He founded the Southern California Practitioner, a medical journal, which is published monthly in Los Angeles, and of this he was editor from the start until 1889, and again in January, 1899, as- sumed the proprietorship and editorial control of this publication, which finds its way into the hands of every member of the profession in this locality. Together with Dr. J. P. Widney, he wrote "California of the South," a valuable and comprehensive work, giving a general and cli- matic description of this section of the state. The work, which is published by D. Appleton & Co., of New York, has passed through several editions, and is considered an authority on the subject discussed.

In 1886 Dr. Lindley made a trip to the summit of Mount San Jacinto, which has an altitude of eleven thousand feet. This mountain is in the San Gorgonio Mountainsin Riverside county, one hundred miles east of Los Angeles. On this trip he was greatly impressed with Idyllwild, a beau- tiful valley of pine forests at an altitude of five thousand feet. This he believed to be an ideal place for tuberculous patients needing that alti- tude At the time he wrote a description of that section of the country, which was published in several medical journals, as well as in various newspapers and other periodicals. In Septem- ber, 1899, Dr. Lindley, accompanied by Dr. F. T. Bicknell, of Los Angeles, again visited Idyllwild, when his first impressions of the desirability of these pine-clad mountains as a resort for con- sumptives were confirmed. This visit of inspec- tion resulted in the incorporation of the Califor- nia Health Resort Company, with a capital of $250,000. This company is composed of forty of the leading medical men of Southern California and has purchased a tract of land three miles long and one mile wide. This tract includes Idyllwild and is beautifully timbered and has run- ning streams and ever-flowing springs. As this volume goes to press, buildings, on the cottage plan, are well under way. They will have every modern sanitary convenience and will furnish ac-

commodations for one hundred persons. Dr. Lindley is the secretary and general manager of this corporation, as he is of the California Hospi- tal in Los Angeles. The Idyllwild resort will be ready for guests by Jannary 1, 1901. There will be a resident physician and a corps of trained nurses.

There is no firmer or more enthusiastic believer in the future of Los Angeles than Dr. Lindley, who has repeatedly proved his faith by invest- ments in city real estate. He furnishes a splen- did type of the successful self-made American of high principles and keen mental acumen. His home is at No. 1415 South Grand avenue. In 1875 he married Miss Lou C. Puett, daughter of Rev. W. W. Pnett. There were, by this mar- riage, two children: Flora Banta, now the wife of Philip Kitchin, living in Los Angeles, and Myra Josephine, now the wife of Samuel F. Both- well, also residing in Los Angeles. Mrs. Lind- ley died May 8, 1881. November 22, 1882, the doctor married Miss Lilla Leighton. Two chil- dren, a boy and a girl, were born to them, but both died. Mrs. Lilla Lindley died March 4. 1893.

July 18, 1894, Dr. Lindley married Mrs. Flor- ence Hardie, daughter of James S. Haynes, and sister of Drs. Francis L., John R. and Robert W. Haynes, the well-known Los Angeles physicians. They have twochildren: Dorothy, five years old, and Francis Haynes, sixteen months.

OHN S. KUNS, a prominent horticulturist of the Covina valley, and president of the Orange Growers' Association, was born in Clinton county, Ind., July 27, 1849. His parents, Henry and Caroline (Spidel) Knns, were natives of Ohio, and of German descent.

In 1865 the Kuns family moved from Indiana to Pratt county, Ill., where for many years they successfully engaged in general farming and stock· raising. The business ventures of John S. Kuns have been mostly in connection with those of his father. In 1884 father and son established a private bank called the Farmers' Bank at Cerro Gordo, Ill., and they held the positions of vice- president and president respectively. This asso- ciation was amicably continued until in 1894, when John S. Kuns was compelled by failing

Grenze Heinoco

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

health to seek a change of climate and surround- ings. He therefore disposed of his interest in the bank, and retired from active participation in its affairs.

Mr. Kuns took up his residence in California in 1898, and although a sojourner of such short duration, he has made his influence felt in vari- ous and substantial ways. He is one of the promoters of the Covina Valley Orange Growers' Association, and has served as its president since its incorporation in 1899. He is also a director of the Lordsburg College, at Lordsburg, Cal. In the matter of politics he is exceedingly liberal, but has a strong inclination towards the Repub- lican party. A member of the German Baptist Brethren Church, he is devoted to its interests, and generous in his contributions.

Mr. Kuns was married to Sarah M. Hawver, a native of North Manchester, Ind., and a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Studebaker) Hawver. Of this union there are four children: Mrs. Joseph Cline, of Philadelphia; Jessie M., Earl M. and Cyril are at home.

The Mission ranch, which Mr. Kuns owns, comprises seventy-two acres and is located at Covina. The land was formerly owned and cul- tivated by Daniel Houser, who, while yet living, donated his eighty-acre ranch to the German Baptist Brethren Church, and they sold it to Mr. Kuns. In his methods Mr. Kuns is progressive. He is kindly in his dealings with his friends and associates, and appreciated because of his many attributes that contribute to the general well- being.

G EORGE HINDS was a well-known business man of Wilmington, a village of eight hun- dred people situated near San Pedro, twenty- two miles south of Los Angeles, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. A native of Ireland, horn Sep- tember, 8, 1833, he was a son of Thomas Alex- ander and Anne (Stephenson) Hinds, the former of whom died in Cavan, Ireland, and the latter in Australia. He left his native country when seventeen years of age and came to America, set- tling in Pennsylvania. He was still living there when the war broke out between the States. With the patriotic spirit displayed by so many of our foreign-born citizens at that time, he e11- listed in the Union army. He became a member

of the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, with which he served through the Pen- insular campaign, taking part in many serious engagements.

At the expiration of the war Mr. Hinds was appointed a hospital steward in the regular army and continued in the government employ until 1868, leaving the service in Wilmington, Cal., where he resided until his death, May 9, 1898. He became a member of the firm of Vickery & Hinds, dealers in live stock and owners of a meat market in this village. As they were pros- pered they enlarged their business connections by establishing meat markets in Los Angeles, San Pedro and Long Beach. Through their re- liability, fair dealings and honesty they gained a high reputation among the people of the sev- eral towns where they established markets. I11 all of his transactions Mr. Hinds showed up- rightness and a high sense of honor, and he amply deserved all the success he attained.

March 1, 1865, Mr. Hinds married Miss Mary Kennedy, of Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and Mary (Ryan) Kennedy, natives of Dublin and Limerick, Ireland, respectively. In politics Mr. Hinds was a firm Democrat. On that ticket he was twice elected a member of the board of county supervisors, serving in 1874, 1875 and 1876, and during this time was president of the board. He was again elected a member of the board for four years, but resigned in order to ac- cept from President Cleveland an appointment as collector of customs for the district of Wil- mington, which position was tendered him Au- gust 23, 1886, and in which he showed the same intelligence and energy characteristic of him in other positions.

RANCISCO A. SANCHEZ is well know11 throughout the vicinity of which he has been a life-long resident. He is now secretary of the Los Nietos Pioneer Club, which he assisted in organizing. Formerly for a number of years he was secretary of the Los Nietos Water Com- pany. His interest in educational matters led to his acceptance of a position as member of the board of school trustees and secretary of the same, which office he fills with acknowledged efficiency. Since he settled upon his present property in 1885 he has given his attention to the cultivation

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and improvement of his ranch of one hundred and thirty acres, the thrifty condition of which attests his skill as a ranchman.

Mr. Sanchez was born in El Monte, Cal., October 21, 1858, a son of Juan Matias and Louisa (Archuleta) Sanchez, natives of New Mex- ico and both descendants of prominent Spaniards who settled in the southwest in an early day. About 1848 his father, with others of his race, migrated from New Mexico to California and settled in Los Angeles county, where he con- tinued to reside until his death, November 11, 1885. Identifying himself with El Monte in an early day, he purchased land, improved the same and in time became one of the large land owners of his neighborhood. He was also interested in stock-raising. When gold was discovered in California, in 1849, he went to the placer mines and for a short time tried his luck as a miner, but was not sufficiently fortunate to continue long in the occupation. However, in farming he was more successful and accumulated a competency. Of his children four are living: Thomas L., Frank A., Julian L. and Mrs. B. Guirado.

The education of F. A. Sanchez was begnu in the common schools of this county. For two and one-half years he studied in St. Vincent's College at Los Angeles, and later a similar period was spent in Santa Clara College at Santa Clara, Cal. Subsequently he was a student in Heald's Business College, San Francisco. On the com- pletion of his education he returned home and assumed the management of his father's ranch near El Monte. About the same time he estab- lished domestic ties, choosing as his wife Mar-

active in politics, he keeps posted concerning public affairs and supports Democratic candidates and principles.

C OSEPH DOUGLASS came to California in December of 1892 and for six months re- sided at Monrovia, thence came to Pomona in 1893 and has made this place his home ever since. The ranch he owns comprises ten acres, under orange culture. Mr. Douglass was born near Danville, Vermillion county, Il1., December 29, 1834, a son of Cyrus and Ruby (Bloss) Douglass. His father was a native of Vermont, of Scotch extraction; and his mother, a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent. The former was a soldier in the Black Hawk war.

The early pioneer schools of Illinois furnished Mr. Douglass with limited educational oppor- tunities; his subsequent experience in practical business affairs has made him a well-informed man. In 1853 he started from Illinois for Ore- gon, but when he had reached Knox county, Mo., he decided to settle there and engage in general farm pursuits. After a short time he also became interested in a mercantile business, and served as postmaster at Novelty, that county. For twenty years he made his home in the sanie county. He then moved to Kirksville, Mo., and for nearly twenty years carried on a lumber busi- ness there, also while there served for two terms as clerk of the school board. From that city he came to California in 1892.

The first marriage of Mr. Douglass was to Eliza Hickman, a native of Illinois, who died in 1862. Two sons were born of that union: Will- garita, daughter of the late John Rowland, Jr., of iam A., now of Kirksville, Mo .; and Frank M., Puente, Cal. John Rowland, Jr., was a son of who is cashier of the Covina Valley Bank at Covina. His second wife was Mary Hoye, who was born in Maryland, near the Virginia line; two children were born to their union: Ida M., at home; and Ernest, of Los Angeles. Mrs. Mary Douglass died at Monrovia in 1893. John Rowland. The latter came here in 1848, from New Mexico, with William Workman, Juan Matias Sanchez and other pioneers and settled at Puente, Cal., where numerous descendants now live. In 1885 he moved to his present ranclı at Los Nietos, and he and his wife and their seven Politically Mr. Douglass adheres to Republican principles. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons in Pomona. He is a member and trus- tee of the Presbyterian Church of Pomona, to the support of which he contributes regularly. The National Bank of Pomona numbers him among its directors. children have a comfortable and happy home. The names of their children are: Juan C., Louisa I., Raimundo P., Leonora P., Zenobia T., Luz J. and Francisco A., Jr. They are identified with the Roman Catholic Church, having been reared in that faith and being in sympathy with its aims and doctrines. While he has never been

The life of Mr. Douglass includes a number of

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experiences that are out of the ordinary routine of business. One of these was his service in the Union army. In 1861 heenlisted in the militia from Knox county, Mo., and served actively for nearly three years, being first under Captain Wilson and later under Captain Parsons. At a later period, in 1864, he enlisted in the volunteer service, be- coming a member of Company F, Thirty-ninth Missouri Infantry, and with his regiment he did duty in Missouri and other states. Finally his regiment was ordered to the front of the army in the vicinity of Richmond, Va., where they guarded prisoners. In March, 1865, he was hon- orably discharged from the service. For some years, during his residence at Kirksville, Mo., he was actively connected with the post at that point.

During 1898-99 Mr. Douglass and his son, Ernest, were absent from home about fifteen months, having gone to the Klondike gold fields on a tour of exploration. They arrived at Daw- son City, in the heart of the Klondike, Septem- ber 1, 1898, and remained in that vicinity until June of the following year, when they returned home, content to leave subsequent explorations of that region to other adventurous spirits.

- RANK M. DOUGLASS, cashier of the Covina Valley Bank, was one of the prime movers in the organization of this well- known financial institution, and has served as a member of its board of directors ever since the incorporation, in April, 1898. Throughout this section of the county he is recognized as an able financier and a man of business capacity, ad- mirably adapted by native ability and by train- ing to fill the responsible position to which he has been elected. In addition to his identification with the bank, he is also known as an extensive and successful fruit-grower.

A son of Joseph and Eliza (Hickman) Doug- lass, the latter deceased, the former a resident of Pomona, Cal., Frank M. Douglass was born in Knox county, Mo., July 27, 1859. He received an excellent education in the Missouri State Normal School at Kirksville. From 1877 to 1880 he taught in the public schools of Knox county, after which for a number of years he was engaged in the lumber business in Kirksville, as

a partner of his father, under the firm name of Douglass & Son. Coming to Los Angeles count- ty in 1887 he settled in the city of Los Angeles at first and engaged in the real-estate and loan business, but in 1890 removed to the neighbor- ing town of Duarte, where he was interested in agricultural pursuits for several years. On the organization of the Duarte-Monrovia Fruit Ex- change he was elected secretary and manager of the organization, a position which he filled ably until his coming to Covina, April 30, 1898.

On his arrival in Covina Mr. Douglass at once identified himself with the horticultural and banking interests of the valley, and since May, 1898, he has been cashier of the bank which he assisted in organizing. He owns a valuable ranch of forty acres, and this he devotes to the raising of citrus fruits, carrying on an extensive business in this branch of industry. In his polit- ical sympathies he is a stanch Republican, and always votes the party ticket. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is connected with the Covina Lodge of Free Masons, and is also a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar.

September 5, 1882, Mr. Douglass married Miss Phoebe A. Montgomery, who was born in Apple River, Wis., and is a daughter of M. S. Mont- gomery, now a well-known citizen of Los An- geles. Mr. and Mrs. Douglass are the parents of four children, namely: Lela A., Joseph M., Mary E. and Frank M., Jr.

AMES R. ELLIOTT. The substantial and well-to-do citizens of Covina have no better representative than Mr. Elliott, who is ably assisting in the development of the agricultural resources of Los Angeles county, not only as a successful horticulturist, but as the superintend- ent of the Covina Irrigating Company. He was born December 15, 1856, in Hunt county, Tex. His father, Erby Elliott, who served in the Con- federate army during the Civil war, was killed in service, and his mother, whose maiden name was Jestin Hale, died shortly after.

Having been left an orphan when but eight years old, James R. Elliott lived with an uncle, Charles Dougherty, with whom he came to Cali- fornia in 1868, locating at first in El Monte, Los

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Angeles county, but afterward settling in that lings, would seem to indicate that a master hand part of the Azusa valley that is known as Glad- is at the helm who understands the rounding out of every side of his business, and has the ability to keep in touch with its progress as con- ducted in all the nursery centers of the world. That he inherits an appreciation of the pleasure as well as profit to be derived from so close an association with the things that grow, his father having been a nurseryman, is undoubtedly an additional canse for success. stone ranch. There he was reared and educated, attending the common schools, and making his home with Mr. Dougherty until he was twenty years of age. Beginning life for himself at that time, he tried various occupations, mostly in the agricultural line, but is now devoting his atten- tion to horticulture, in which he has been espe- cially interested for many years. On his ranch he raises fruits of the citrus family, having nearly ten acres devoted to oranges alone. A man of energetic enterprise, he has also engaged in other lines of business, having for several years mann- factured cement water pipe, for which there is always good demand in this part of the country. He has made a study of the different processes of irrigating, thus fitting himself for the responsible position he holds as the superintendent of the Covina Irrigating Company, of which he has also been a director for the past twelve years. He is also a director of the Covina Domestic Water Company, with which he has been associ- ated for some time.

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Historical and biographical record of Los Angeles and vicinity : containing a history of the city from its earliest settlement as a Spanish pueblo to the closing year of the nineteenth century ; also containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present, Part 66

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 996

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 996